Well, it's actually FedEx Purple, or PANTONE 2685, according to the FedEx Corporate Identity Guide.

In spite of the way FedEx completely hosed up their opportunity to capitalize on the buzz that FedEx Furniture Guy was creating, I truly admire their 'color coding' brand strategy, which FedEx recently expanded on at a Nashville AMA event, as reported by the Jazzed About Business blog.

I don't think that the importance of color, and differentiation by color, should ever be underestimated in your long term branding strategy. In fact, all of FedEx's branding is apparently long term.

Covering the evolution of the FedEx brand from how it got started to how it continues to be maintained, Hoy revealed they have employed strategic, rather than tactical, branding. Their branding started around using “Power Applications” which consisted of mediums in which the brand was placed in front of people, such as signage, trucks, uniforms, literature and anywhere else the FedEx name may be seen.

Maybe I just notice these things, but even a low usage customer like me can tell you the difference in what service I'm getting from FedEx based on the color on the box, truck or logo on the website. Wild. How easily we're trained.

Think about this during your next new product launch or line extension.

When asked to approximate the importance of color when buying products, 84.7 percent of the total respondents think that color accounts for more than half among the various factors important for choosing products. "For consumers these days, color is not simply one of many variables, but is in fact the most important factor in making purchase decisions. As youth have grown up with heavy influence from the visual media such as TV, film, video and fashion magazines, companies are starting to focus more on marketing colors that appeal to the senses," Cheon Mi-ryung said. (Seoul International Color Expo 2004)

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